MUSIC REVIEWS

Owning a verse with more than your voice doesn’t mean inviting a lot of nonsense into the mix just to obstruct the audience’s view of your skill. There’s no hiding behind a hook if you want to make a splash in modern hip-hop; you’ve got to be out there front …

James Robert Webb’s six-track EP Ride or Die stakes his claim as one of the most important new voices in modern country music. He mixes anthemic compositions alongside raucous life-celebrating tracks that are sure to find widespread favor. It lays the groundwork for Webb’s next full-length collection Weekend Outlaw, but still leaves a …

Oregon-based songwriter Keith A. Getchell’s “Send Your River” has a decidedly human message. It doesn’t have any political axe to grind. It doesn’t have a social cause de jour to champion. Instead, it flies the flag for individual sanctity. Life calls upon us to follow our heart, and Getchell’s “Send …

Retrospection, both poetic and aesthetical the same, has been the greater theme of country in the gospel slot this past year, but while they aren’t rejecting this trend in their new album Straight from the Heart, High Road can’t be accused of trying to blend in with a crowd here, either. Straight from the …

While his peers are seeming content to relive the past in their work through one melody or another, Chris Chitsey doesn’t want to be the same kind of ranch poet that has dominated the country music conversation for five generations and beyond. FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/chrischitsey/ In Chitsey’s new single, which is …

Co-produced with Grammy award-winning Mark Prentice, Mark Conklin’s new collection, The Gospel According to Mark, exponentially expands on the New Jersey native’s musical vision. The album’s predecessor, an EP release entitled Starting Over, established his reputation as a major league singer/songwriter after a near-lifetime as an artist manager and music executive. …

Adey Bell’s new EP release, Venus Exalted Vol. 2 – Tribute to the Dearly Departed, continues in the deeply felt tradition of Bell’s past releases. The Ashville, North Carolina-based singer/songwriter has earned a reputation as an intensely spiritual musical artist whose work has a higher purpose than mere entertainment. URL: https://shop.oracle88.com/ However, …

Pangaea’s music pulls off a neat trick. It invites a bevy of comparisons without ever sounding guilty of imitation. Their cover of The Beatles’ “Come Together” aims to clear a high bar. Refurbishing the work of arguably the single most influential rock band in history without inviting mockery is a …

The second album from Liam Purcell and Cane Mill Road, Yellow Line, consolidates the band’s position as one of the pre-eminent bluegrass outfits today. The young Purcell possesses gifts far beyond his years as he’s just now enjoying the afterglow of graduating from the prestigious Berklee College of Music. He’s surrounded …

I went into hearing Tanya Mezh’s music with trepidation wondering what a fifteen-year-old singer, however talented, might have to say to a middle-aged music reviewer. However, such worries were needless. If nothing else, Mezh’s unabashed joy as a performer and immense musicality should remind even the most jaded listener why …